Coupling and bearing arrangement



F. HQDGKINSON t COUPLING AND BEARING ARRANGEKENT Find Aug. 4,*1921 2 snowman f//l/l11111111111111101111/ Much. 31, 1925.

l-,53L285 F. HODGKINSON A COUPLING AND ABEARING ARRANGMNT Filed Aug. L. 1921. 2 Shun-Rijdt 2 ATTORNEY Patented Mer. 31r 1925.y ff

vUNITED srarl-:s

APARENT orricn.l

, FRANCIS Honozmson, or SWARTHMORE, rnnnsnvamn, Assrenor. To Waerme- HOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURI 4 sYLvAnra,

NG COMPANY, A CORTEORATION OF PENN- ,k ooUPLING AND Eisenmann-RANGEMENT.

4'v lpplieajfnnxfiled August 4, 1921. Serial No.: 489,890.

"To all whom it may concern: Y Y

'Be it known that I, Finnois HoDoriNeoN, @subjectief the'ling of Great Britain and Ireland, a resident of Swartllmere, in the county @Delaware and State of @Pennsylvania, have invented a new. and; useful Improvement in Coupling Vand Bearing Arrangements, of which the' following is a s specification. s 4 Y rMyinvention .relates to a Ybearing and rigid coupling arrangement ,for the adja- -1 cent ends of aligned rotary elements, for example, acoupled turbine and generator, and has for its objectjto provide apparatus "of the character designated which shall, at all times, 'maintain they bearings in alignment and insure that theiload shallbe 'prop-V Fig.' 5 is an elevationalvievv" of a further4 Vinodiiied form ofmy invention, and

Fiu vis a diavrammatic'vieiv of the su 9- i b .b Y

porting elements usedin Fig, 2.

' In aeonpledtnrbine andk generator installation having a bearing carried. by each machine adjacentto the coupled shaft ends, it is notpracticableto employ a rigid coupling -on account of the expansion or change of position of parts, ,resulting inthe Whole load or a disproportionate. amount of. the Vload rbeing.carried by one ofthe bearings. It is common practice, therefora` with an arrangement of this kind, to use a `flexible, coupling vious that the fulcrum or pivot point may in order to permit of, relative transverse movementy ofthe couplingaelements lin case v.of mis-alignment. This arrangement is, however, objectionable on,V account of Wearing or' the driving faces of the coupling-and ,itis ,also costly` to malteV as compared with a' coupling of the rigidA type.

Another type of construction, iste provide a. single supporting 4bearing carried by the Vturbine casing for the adjacent shaft ends andto provide a rigid coupling' for the latter. Howeveig' where the'load, dne to the combined Weight of therotors, Cannot be carried by the single bearing, this arrangenient 'cannot be used. Y Y

Accordingly, therefore, I have provided a Y vconstruction in which, vlike the first type re- 'i'erred to, a bearing is providedfvior each adjacent shaft end but, unlike the irsttype, afrigid coupling is'employed. TheV latter feature is rendered practicable by mounting the bearings in a rigid or transversely tiltable supporting structure or housing so that the vbearings may be maintained in alignment and' the' load properly distributed v thereon.,

Referring now more particularly to` the drawings for a detailed description of my invention, in- Fig, 1, I show a turbine lOyprovided with arotor shaft 11 connected to the V,rotor shaft 12 of a rqenerator 13 by means of a rigid conplingll. The shafts l1 and 12 are rotatably mounted in bearings 15-15,

the latter being arranged on opposite sides of the rigid coupling' 14 and carried by a suit# able supporting` frame or housing- 16, pivoted forfu-lcrumed in any suitable manner at Y 17Hso as to permit of' tilting about a transverse axis forpurposes stated herein.

In Fig. 1;, I showthe lower portion of the Isupporting device or housing 16 pivoted, by :cneansof a suitable pivot or'fulrcum pin ,17, to a stationary snpportl; however, it will 'be obvious that any type of ralorum connec- .lon mightbe eniployed,.or,a-r1gid structure might be used and reliance placed upon the` inherentA flexibility thereof to provide i'or the small amount of necessary displacement about a transverse axis.- It will also be obbe so chosen as to secure a proper distribw tion of the load on the bearings, considering the Weights` of the rotors.

yIt will be noted; that, in Fig-.1, the supporting,` housing; or structure for the bearings is mounted independently of the turbine; and, while it is capable: of securing there zoY branches QS.

sults referred to, nevertheless itis subject t0 further modification for Ythe reason that relative expansion, due to temperature diiiierences between the turbine and the bearing supporting structure, may result in distur bance of the blade clearances in the turbine. ln Figs. 2 to 6. inclusive, l have, therefor, shown structure in which the turbine and bearing supporting structure are so related as to permit expansion and contraction together.

ln Figs. 2, 3, and 6, l shouT a coupled turbine and generator similar to the structure of Fig. l, except that a portion of the r 'turbine structure is utilized to support the supporting device or housing 20 for the bearings. More particularly, supporting members 21 are provided for supporting the low-pressure end of the turbine l0 and extend rearwardly and inwardly to provide supporting portions 22 for the bearing supporting device or housing 20, which is preferably made in upper and lower portions provided with laterally extending flanges Q3 resting upon the supporting portions 22. lli/hen the bearing support or housing 2O is supported in this Way, the small amount of necessary movement to secure a distribution of pressure on the bearings may take place in the manner stated, due to the inherent flexibility of the supporting structure, particularly the flanges Q and the supporting portions Q2.

In order that the supporting or housing members 21, may be maintained at uniform temperatures, I provide a. ivatcrcirculating system therefor. in Fig. G, l show diagrammatically a Water supply conduit With branches 26 leading to the elements 2l, and a Water outlet conduit 27, connected to the other ends of the elements Q1, by means of lt will therefore be obvious that, as each member 21 is submitted to approximately the same temperature conditions, there is no appreciable relative eX- parisien for disturbing the bearings.

ln Fig. 5, l show a form of my invention which is similar to that shown in Fig. l cr;- cept that the supporting members 30, for the bearing supporting structure or housing 20, are integral with or constitute extensions of the lower portion of the turbine casing.

From the foregoing, it Will be apparent that I have provided a. bearing structure for rigidly coupled ends of the shafts of a generator and of a turbine so supported as to sec-ure alinement of the bearings at all times and proper distribution of the load on the latter.

W'hile l have shown my invention in a plurality of forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications, Without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in th appended claims.

lVhat I claim is z* l. The combination with driving and driven shafts connected by a rigid coupling, of bearings at each side of the coupling for supporting the shafts, and an element capable of tilting movement for supporting said bearings.

2. The com ination with driving and driven shafts connected by a rigid coupling, of bearings at each side of the coupling for supliorting` the shafts, and a tiltable frame for enclosing and for supporting said bearings.

8. The' combination with turbine and generator shafts and a rigid coupling for the shafts, of supporting bearings for the shafts Vat opposite sides of the coupling, a frame for supporting the bearings, and means capable of tilting movement for supporting the frame.

4;. The combination With turbine and generator rotor shafts coupled by means of a rigid coupling, of bearings for the shafts on opposite sides of the coupling and rigid supporting means for the bearings capable of tilting transversely, whereby the bearings may be maintained in alignment and each bearing carry its proper share of the load.

5. The combination with turbine and gen- 'eratol` shafts connected together by a rigid coupling, of bearings for adjacent ends of the shafts and on opposite sides of the coupling, a rigid supporting member for the bearings for maintaining the bearings in alignment, and means for flexibly supporting said member ivith respect to an element of the turbine.

6. rlhe combination,with a turbine and a generator having shafts coupled by a rigid coupling, of supporting elements for one of the coupled members, bearings for the turbine and generator shafts on opposite sides of the coupling, and a rigid supporting device for the bea-rings carriedby said elements and capable of tilting motion, ivhereby the bearings are at all times maintained in alignment and the load distributed thereon.

7. The combination with a turbine and a generator having shafts coupled by a rigid coupling, of supporting elements for one end of the turbine, bearings for the turbine and generator shafts on opposite sides of thc coupling, arigidv supporting device for the bea-rings carried by said elements and ca pable of tilting motion, whereby the bearings are at all times maintained in alignment and the load distributed thereon, and fluid-circulating means for the supporting elements to maintain them at approximately Y equal temperatures.

8. The combination with aturbine and a, Y,

generator Vhaving the rotorshafts thereof coupled by means of a rigid eoup1ing,e.of bearings for the shafts on opposite sides of the coupling, and a rigidsupporting housing for the bearings capable of tilting about a transverse axes, whereby the bearings may be maintained in alignment and the 1oad` distributed thereon, said housing being supported by the structure of the turbine.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed Ymy nume this lst day of August, 1921. f

-FRANCIS HOVDGKINSON. 

